Method for assessing the severity of underwater dive and use of said method in a dive computer

1. A method for assessing severity of an underwater dive, comprising:

providing a dive computer comprising,

at least one display unit, and

at least one processing unit comprising a processor adapted to execute a logic program stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium, and units adapted to detect predetermined physical dive-related parameters; and

calculating a dive severity index by performing the following steps:

(a) determining an amount of gas inhaled by a diver;

(b) measuring dive time;

(c) determining a depth profile of the dive;

(d) calculating a dive severity index based on a function of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) assessing the severity based on a result of step (d),

wherein the steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) are performed in real-time mode, at each instant of the dive time of the diver, and

wherein step (d) is performed according to the following formula:

DSI= k 1 *f (GAS)* f ( D )* f ( T )

where:

DSI is the dive severity index,

k 1 is an arbitrary constant,

f(GAS) is a function of the inhaled gas,

f(D) is a function of dive depth, and

f(T) is a function of the dive time.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (d) is performed according to the following formula:

DSI

=

5

*

FN

⁢

⁢

2

0.79

⁢

(

D

avg

10

+

1

)

*

T

where:

D avg is average dive depth, in meters, updated at each instant,

T is the dive time in minutes, and

FN2 is a nitrogen fraction in the gas inhaled by the diver.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein severity level is assessed at step (e) as:

non-severe for severity index values of less than 80,

a transition from non-severe to severe for severity index values ranging from 80 to 100,

severe for severity index values ranging from 100 to 120, and

very severe for severity index values exceeding 120.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of changing parameters of a decompression algorithm according to a value of the dive severity index.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (d) is stopped in case of a decrease in the dive severity.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (d) is stopped upon occurrence of one or more of the following conditions, in alternative or in combination with one another:

reaching a depth of 12 m,

using a specific gas mixture instead of a previously used gas mixture,

reaching a predetermined level of nitrogen release from one or more tissues of the body of the diver, or

a dive severity index value as calculated at a given instant is lower than a value calculated at a previous instant.

7. A method of decompression during an underwater dive, comprising the following steps:

providing a dive computer comprising,

at least one display unit, and

at least one processing unit comprising a processor adapted to execute a logic program stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium, and units adapted to detect predetermined physical dive-related parameters;

wherein the logic program performs the following steps:

identifying a plurality of biological tissues intended to represent the body of a diver;

associating each tissue with a half-time and/or a corresponding threshold value, the half-time identifying a gas uptake rate by an associated tissue, the threshold value defining a maximum amount of pressure above ambient pressure that the associated tissue is able to tolerate;

measuring dive time; and

determining a depth profile of the dive,

wherein, as the dive time and/or depth values increases, the threshold value decreases and/or the half-time value of at least one tissue increases.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein an increase of the dive time and/or depth values causes the threshold values to decrease and/or the half-times of all the tissues identified at step (f) to increase.

9. A dive computer comprising:

at least one display unit; and

at least one processing unit comprising a processor adapted to execute a logic program stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium, and units adapted to detect predetermined physical dive-related parameters,

wherein said logic program consists in a decompression algorithm comprising one or more of the following steps:

(a) determining an amount of gas inhaled by a diver;

(b) measuring dive time;

(c) determining a depth profile of the dive;

(d) calculating a dive severity index based on a function of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) assessing the severity based on the step (d) of calculating the dive severity index,

wherein the steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) are performed in real-time mode, at each instant of the dive time of the diver, and

wherein step (d) is performed according to the following formula:

DSI= k 1 *f (GAS)* f ( D )* f ( T )

where:

DSI is the dive severity index,

k 1 is an arbitrary constant,

f(GAS) is a function of the inhaled gas,

f(D) is a function of dive depth, and

f(T) is a function of the dive time.

10. The dive computer according to claim 9 , further comprising control units adapted to generate acoustic and/or visual alarm signals upon reaching predetermined dive severity index threshold values.

11. The dive computer according to claim 9 , further comprising an input/output interface that allows the diver to enter controls for changing parameters of a decompression algorithm.